


That Damned Universe

by Im_trash_bye



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Fluff, Multi, Mutual Pining, maybe some angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-19 06:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16529153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_trash_bye/pseuds/Im_trash_bye
Summary: Cyrus, Andi, and Buffy have landed themselves in the most prestigious boarding school in the midwest. None of them are quite sure how, or why, but they know that they are in way over their heads.





	1. Chapter 1

Cyrus took a deep breath, looking up at the impressive exterior of Lincoln Academy. It still hadn't quite hit him that this campus would serve to be his home for the next five years. The buildings towered over him, all built of brick.

  
"Nervous?" his dad asked from behind him, carrying some of his bags.

  
"Extensively," Cyrus confirmed, glancing down at the stack of papers in his left hand. "We need Stanford Dormitory," he said, his voice wavering.

  
"This way," his mom said. She led the group towards a building to their right. The building was marked with the words 'Stanford Dormitories' etched into the stone above the door. They crossed over the dewy grass, the cool morning fog brushing their faces.

  
Cyrus, all four of his parents in tow, stepped into the dormitory, looking around in wonder.

  
"Um, boys are on floors three and four," he said shakily. "I'm in room..." He paused, glancing at his papers again. "417."

  
All five members of the group sighed, clambering up the staircase, Cyrus's things in hand. They reached the top floor, all panting as they bumbled down the hallway.

  
"413...415...417!" Cyrus exclaimed, pulling his keys from his pocket to unlock the door, labeled with a sticky note: TJ Goodman, Cyrus Kippen. "Well, they tried," he shrugged, shoving into the door with his shoulder to get it to open.

  
"Truly a valiant attempt," his dad grumbled. He buckled slightly under the weight of Cyrus's things; having transferred them all to one arm so he could pull the sticky note off the door.

  
"Dad! How will my roommate know this is his room?"

  
"Well, if the kid can't read a schedule, he doesn't belong here anyway," Norman shrugged, looking around the room. "...Charming."

  
Cyrus glanced around with a sigh. There were two beds, pushed to opposite sides of the room, a shelf hanging over each headboard, and a desk at the foot of each one. Surprisingly, there was a bathroom door along the left wall. The walls were white, and there was a window that looked out over the main lawn; still rain-soaked and shining under the late morning sun.

  
"Looks like we have our work cut out for us," Todd said from behind him. "How about we go back down to the truck and get some more of your things, you unload what you can, and then you come down and help us?"

  
"Sounds good." Cyrus nodded, propping the door open with a book that had fallen out of his bag. His parents all nodded, setting down the hall on a mission.

  
Cyrus ran a hand through his hair, before setting to work. He made his bed with light blue bedding, then put the clothes he had in the dresser his step-mom had carried up. He put all his books and extra bedding in the drawers beneath his bed, then stepped back to admire his progress. "...Good enough."

  
He turned and jogged back downstairs, only to run into two girls stepping inside the building.

  
"Oh! Sorry, I should have been watching where I was going...Oh! Hey, guys!" he exclaimed, hugging Buffy and Andi in greeting. "When did you two get here?"

  
"Like five minutes ago," Buffy laughed, hugging Cyrus back. "Where's your room?"

  
"417," Cyrus replied, stepping back to look at them. "You two are rooming together, right?"

  
"Yeah, 221," Andi said, gesturing up the stairs. "Who'd you get stuck with?"

  
"Someone named TJ Kippen," Cyrus shrugged. "He hasn't gotten here yet."

  
"Come on, let's go see our room," Andi said, pulling her best friends upstairs. "So, can you guys believe we're not going to JMS anymore?"

  
"Thank God, honestly," Buffy replied, stopping in front of their door, marked: Biffy Driscoll, Andy Mack. All three chuckled at the name tag, tearing it off the door.

  
"The same happened to me," Cyrus said as Buffy opened the door. "TJ doesn't even know me, and he's already taken my last name!"

"Why, how forward of him," Andi drawled sarcastically, stepping inside the room, which was identical to Cyrus's.

  
"Alright, I have to go help my parents with my stuff, I'll leave you two to unpack," Cyrus said. "See you at 8th-grade orientation?"

  
"Of course, love you," Andi said, waving as he left.

  
Cyrus jogged across campus, meeting his parents at the truck.

  
"Sorry, guys. I ran into Andi and Buffy," he chuckled, helping his dad with some more of his bags.

  
They all walked back into Stanford, making the annoying journey upstairs once again, and plopping the last of Cyrus's things on his bed. Cyrus sighed, looking around, before turning back towards his parents.

  
"I guess this is it," he said, hugging his parents.

  
"We love you, kid," his step-mom murmured.

  
"Call if you need anything, anything at all," Todd insisted.

  
"Home is only two hours away, we'll be around, we promise," this was his dad.

  
"You gonna be okay, kiddo?" his mom asked, pulling away. Cyrus nodded.

  
"Okay, sweetie. Learn lots of stuff, okay?" Sharon said.

  
"I promise."

 

"Alright, we love you so much, Cyrus," Norman said, kissing his hair.

  
"I love you guys too. Now go, before you get towed."

  
His parents all nodded, bidding him good luck before disappearing downstairs.

  
Cyrus took a deep breath, looking down at his orientation schedule. He had three hours to kill before orientation. He exhaled, turning to get to work on his room. He put up all his decorations, from fairy lights and silver tinsel strung on his headboard to polaroids from Shadyside hung on his wall. Finally, he lined up various framed photos on his shelf.

  
The second he sat down on his bed in satisfaction, putting in his earbuds, two people- a boy and a girl- stepped into the room, looking around. Cyrus jumped, stumbling to his feet.

  
"Ah! Sorry, hi! I'm Cyrus Goodman, you must be TJ!" he exclaimed.

  
"Y-yeah, that's me," TJ stammered, looking Cyrus up and down. "I would have been here earlier, but I was helping her with her room," he explained, gesturing to the girl next to him. "This is Amber."

  
"Girlfriend?"

  
"God no," Amber chuckled. "Twin sister. I like girls, anyway."

  
"Ah," Cyrus nodded in understanding. "Are you downstairs?"

  
"No, I'm in Halsey," Amber said, her phone buzzing. "Speaking of, Iris just got to our dorm. You good here?"

  
"Yep!" TJ exclaimed, hugging her goodbye.

  
"Halsey. Isn't that the ninth grade dorm?"

"Yeah," TJ jumped in. "We're in different grades."

"I'm intrigued," Cyrus said.

"Oh, it's a weird story. Amber was born at 11:56 pm on a Wednesday, I was born at 12:03 am on Thursday. She turned five just in time to go to kindergarten, but I was still technically four."

"Oof," Cyrus winced. "The universe has been cruel to you."

"It really has," TJ nodded, dropping his stuff on his bed. "I like what you did with the room," he gestured to Cyrus's half of the dorm room.

"Oh, yeah," Cyrus shrugged. "I hope you're okay with the lights, I can take them down if you want?"

"No, it's fine, they're pretty," TJ said, meeting Cyrus's eyes as he pulled his bedding out of a bag.

"Y-yeah, they are," Cyrus agreed.

"So, Cyrus Goodman, what's your story?" TJ asked, putting his sheets on his bed.

"How much time do you have?" Cyrus asked, laughing as he sat against his pale blue pillows.

"About... 2 hours and 45 minutes."

"You really wanna sit and listen to me talk about childhood in a tiny town in Midwest?"

"I really do," TJ nodded, putting his blankets on his bed and plopping all his pillows on top.

  
"Um, alright. I'm from Shadyside, Midwest. I have two best friends- Buffy and Andi, we're pretty much attached at the hips. I used to go to Jefferson Middle School. I have four parents, all therapists, and one little half-sister," Cyrus started. "Do you really want me to keep going?"

  
"Please do," TJ insisted.

  
"Why?" Cyrus laughed.

  
"Because I find you fascinating, Cyrus Goodman."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus's first day at Lincoln Academy goes...interestingly, to say the least.

Cyrus woke to his alarm, going off at exactly 5:55 am, as it always had- Cyrus was sure it always would.

  
He rolled over with a sigh, sitting up in bed as he slammed his alarm off. Shoving his covers off, he glanced around at the room he was in. It took a moment to readjust to his surroundings- right. Lincoln Academy.

  
Cyrus glanced at his roommate's bed, only to find it already empty. TJ had made it before he left, bedding pulled into place without a wrinkle. Cyrus grabbed his uniform, stepping into the bathroom to change. At first, he fumbled about with his dark red tie but later got it, moving on to his hair. Checking his watch, he found that he had an hour and 3 minutes until his first class. He deemed it just enough time to go to breakfast and check his textbooks out from the library.

  
Cyrus grabbed his bag and his phone, texting his parents good morning before calling Andi.

  
"Hey, Cyrus!" she greeted.

  
"Hey, I'm on my way down. You ready for breakfast?" Cyrus asked, holding his phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could lock the door.

"Yes! We're starving," Andi replied dramatically. Cyrus chuckled, hanging up as he jogged downstairs. His knuckles had barely made contact with their door when it swung open, revealing Andi and Buffy. They were both wearing their uniforms; white button-down shirts and gray cardigans. The cardigans, of course, had the red Lincoln Academy motto embroidered into them. This paired well with their gray and red plaid skirts, and red ties.

"Well don't you two look darling," Cyrus teased, gesturing his head towards the staircase.

"Don't make fun, this outfit is bad enough as it is," Buffy chided, locking their door, and jogging after them.

  
"I know, I know. I'm not particularly fond of wearing a blazer every day."

 

"No one is, Cy," Andi said, pushing the doors out of the dorm open.

The trio crossed the lawn towards Carver Hall. They each swiped their meal cards at the doors and stepping inside. Hundreds of students filled the expansive cafeteria, their voices overlapping to create a loud buzzing in the room.

  
"What are we feeling today?" Cyrus asked, looking around at the food.

  
"Lots of coffee, I hope," Buffy joked, leading them to the drinks. They each poured a cup of coffee, turning around to survey the cafeteria.

  
"How about cereal?" Cyrus offered, gesturing to the cereal bar.

  
"Good enough," Andi shrugged. "I'm too nervous to eat much anyway."

  
The group wove through the students milling about, each pouring an identical bowl of cereal- Rice Krispies and Cap'n Crunch with 2% milk. They found a table in the corner, sitting down and digging in, watching the cliques form around them.

  
Cyrus caught the eye of TJ, sitting across the cafeteria with his friends. The corner of TJ's mouth pulled into a slight smile before he turned back to the conversation he was having. Cyrus blushed, looking down to his cereal and pushing it around his bowl with the back of his spoon.

  
"Who's that?" Andi asked, nudging Cyrus.

  
"Oh, that's my roommate," Cyrus waved her off as Buffy glanced up to find TJ looking over his shoulder at Cyrus.

  
"What's he like?"

"Um, has a twin sister- Amber. She seems nice, but she's a ninth grader; long story. From LA, plays basketball, likes cats better than dogs..." He paused, thinking. "Um, and hates the universe."

  
"Bowie would disapprove," Andi chuckled. "Is he nice?"

  
"I think so," Cyrus said. "I can't decide if he's nice, a little odd, or a serial killer yet."

  
"Keep us posted," Buffy said. "So, do you like him?"

  
"Buffy!"

  
"What? he's your type!" Buffy defended.

  
"What's that supposed to mean?!"

  
"Athletic and unobtainable," Andi offered. Cyrus shook his head, swatting them both in the head.

  
"Okay, in hopes of escaping this torment," Cyrus said as he gathered his things, having finished eating. "I'm going to the library to get my books."

"Okay, bye!" Andi said, hugging him. "Good luck! See you at lunch?"

  
"Of course," Cyrus promised. "Good luck, you two." He started to walk away, but Buffy's voice stopped him.

  
"Cyrus!"

  
"Yeah?" he asked, turning around.

  
"You nervous?" Cyrus smiled, nodding.

  
"We'll be alright, Buffy."

  
With that, Cyrus turned and left, passing by TJ's table as he did. TJ smiled up at him, and Cyrus felt his heart melting. He turned to look at Buffy and Andi, who were both snickering at him. Cyrus rolled his eyes playfully, putting his dishes away. With that, he walked out of Carver and towards the massive library building behind his dorm.

He stepped inside, inhaling the warm scent of books, before walking up to the desk, where a librarian sat.

"Hi, I need to check out my textbooks," he said.

  
"Oh, okay!" the librarian- Mrs. Bell, her desk read- said brightly. She turned to her computer. "Last name?"

  
"Goodman." Mrs. Bell typed his last name in, scrolling through a list of names.

  
"First name Cyrus?"

  
"That's me," Cyrus confirmed. Mrs. Bell smiled, clicking on his name and writing the titles of his books on a sheet of paper.

  
"Alright, we have science, English, history, French, and math." She gestured to the first five things on his list. "And your assigned reading for this trimester in English." She pointed to the other two things on the list- To Kill a Mockingbird and Fahrenheit 451.

  
"Okay," Cyrus said, looking over the list.

  
"Bring all those back here and I can check them out to you. Textbooks are on the first and second shelves and assigned reading books are on the third and fourth. Tell me if you can't find something or if one of those isn't in."

  
"Got it," Cyrus said, nodding as he took in the information. "Thank you!"

  
"Of course, it is my job after all." Cyrus smiled and set off into the library to find his books. He managed to hunt them all down with minimal effort, setting the seven books on Mrs. Bell's desk when he got back.

  
"I think I got them all," he said, counting the books he'd set down.

  
"You did! Great job, I couldn't have done that my first day here. You certainly know your way around a library."

  
"Yeah, I'm kind of a book nerd," Cyrus said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

  
"I can see that," Mrs. Bell said, gesturing to his overfilled bag. "You know, you'd make a great assistant," she said, clearly deep in thought as she scanned his books.

  
"What do you mean?"

"What do you say to a job?"

"Working in the library?" Cyrus asked, his eyes widening.

"Yeah, why not? Shelf some books, make some money," Mrs. Bell proposed. "You could start today after school. We have a lot of books to shelf at the beginning of the year."

"I-I'd love that!" Cyrus exclaimed.

  
"It pays next to nothing, but I think you could have some fun. Be here from 4 to 5:30 on Mondays and Fridays?"

"Of course! I'd love to! Only Mondays and Fridays?"

  
"Yeah, we've got lots of students working in here."

  
"Oh, okay! I'd love that!"

  
"Alright then, you're all set. See you at 4," Mrs. Bell said, sliding him the stack of books.

  
"See ya!" Cyrus said, picking up his books and leaving the library, a smile on his face as he climbed the stairs back to his room, leaving his books for his afternoon classes on the desk.

  
He managed to find his way to his first class- American History- without much trouble (of course, he did walk into the wrong building at one point), sitting down in his assigned seat and hanging his bag over the back of his chair.

  
Mr. Marlow walked into the room just as the clock ticked to 8:20.

  
"Hello and welcome to American History!" he exclaimed, leaning against his desk. "I am Mr. Marlow, we are in room 132 in Branford Hall, and now would be a great time to ensure you are in the right class."

  
A collective chuckle spread through the students, but everyone checked their schedules anyway. Three people stood up, rushing out of the room to find another and a few minutes later, four others came in, sitting down at the empty desks around the room.

  
The forty minute class period passed quickly, but finished with a bang when Mr. Marlow assigned them a two-page essay on the first chapter of the textbook, due by 11:59 pm Friday.

  
The day continued similarly. By lunch, he'd accumulated a total of 8 pages of essays in just three of his four morning classes. The only essay he hadn't been assigned an essay in was Science. However, he did have to write a detailed summary of the nebular hypothesis by class tomorrow.

  
He trudged back into Carver hall, dropping his things on their table and sitting next to his best friends.

  
"You okay?" Buffy asked with a chuckle, scribbling in a composition notebook.

  
"So many essays to write," Cyrus grumbled, opening his laptop and history textbook, looking down at it as he typed.

  
"You too?" Andi groaned, crossing out a wrong answer on her math homework.

  
"Yep," Cyrus nodded, not taking his eyes from his screen.

  
"We're pathetic," Buffy said. "Study together at 4?"

"Can't," Cyrus responded. "I have library duty tonight."

"Cyrus! We've been here for 26 hours and you already have a job!" Andi exclaimed in disbelief.

"The librarian liked me!" Cyrus defended. Buffy chuckled, finishing her notes and standing up.

"I'm getting lunch, what do you two want?"

"Pizza," Cyrus and Andi responded in unison. "Pepperoni."

  
"...That was terrifying, but I'll be back."

Buffy came back a few minutes later, carrying two plates, each piled high with something like 9 slices of pizza.

  
"Bless you," Cyrus said, pulling the top slice off the stack.

  
"Buffy," Andi started, taking a slice. "This is 17 slices of pizza."

  
"I know! And this," Buffy gestured to the general state of their table. "Is a major study coma! We need sustenance!"

  
"And when we inevitably can't finish all of this?" Cyrus asked.

  
"We sneak the rest back to our rooms," Buffy shrugged.

"Fair enough," Andi seemed to accept that as a good plan, going back to her math homework.

They ended up each bringing three slices of pizza back to their rooms; they wrapped each slice in napkins and put them in their bags. Cyrus dropped the pizza on his desk- he'd have it for dinner instead of deducting points from his meal plan. He quickly changed into his PE uniform, rushing to the gymnasium just in time to chase after a ball for 40 minutes.

Forty minutes later, having gained zero life skills and three bruises, he went back to his room to shower and change, only to find TJ sitting on his bed cross-legged, studying.

  
"Oh, hey," he said, pulling his uniform back out of his dresser. "Free period?"

  
"Yeah, I'm not taking an alternating elective this tri, so I have nothing to do 6th period on A days but study my ass off," TJ chuckled.

  
"You get slammed with homework too?" Cyrus asked sympathetically, crouching to pull a towel out of a lower drawer.

  
"Brutally," TJ confirmed. "I blame the universe."

  
"As you should," Cyrus laughed, crossing the room towards the bathroom. "That damned universe, always getting in the way." With that, he swung the door shut behind him, pushing the lock into place.

  
Ten minutes later, he emerged again, his hair toweled dry, tying his tie around his neck.

"That was the fastest shower known to mankind," TJ marveled, watching Cyrus grab his things and throw his PE uniform in his hamper.

"Well, I was going for a record," Cyrus joked. "Also, I have psychology in seven minutes."

  
"Psychology?" TJ asked.

  
"Yeah, all four of my parents are therapists. Some things stick, I guess," Cyrus laughed, switching his morning books for his math textbook. "Alright, I gotta go, good luck with the studying thing!"

"Good luck with psych," TJ replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Thanks, I'll need it," Cyrus called over his shoulder as the door clicked shut behind him.

  
Cyrus was just in time for psychology, earning a very stern look from Mrs. Barnett.

  
"Sorry, won't happen again," he promised, taking a seat in the back of the class and pulling out his psych notebook. He took extensive notes all class to make up for his near tardiness, and ended up filling 5 pages of notes.

  
Luckily, Mrs. Barnett didn't assign them any homework for that night, so Cyrus was left with only four classes of homework, plus inevitably some for geometry.

Cyrus, desperately not wanting to relive what happened with 6th period, practically ran to geometry, and ended up getting there 17 minutes early.

  
Looking around, he chose a seat at a table near the back, pulling his things out of his bag. Mrs. Bailey walked in a few moments later, greeting Cyrus and telling him he'd need graph paper today. Cyrus nodded, pulling a folder of graph paper out of his bag.

  
"Hey, Cyrus!" Buffy's voice pulled him from his thoughts as she sat next to him, hugging him hello. Over Buffy's shoulder, Cyrus saw TJ step into the room, and waved at him brightly. TJ looked between Buffy and Cyrus, his brow furrowing, then brushed past Cyrus's table, sitting on the opposite side of the room.

  
"What was that?" Buffy hissed to Cyrus.

  
"I have no idea," Cyrus replied.

  
"Definitely more points in the serial killer column, though," Buffy whispered.

  
"A solid twenty, definitely."


	3. Chapter 3

Geometry dragged on, Cyrus glancing up at TJ as many times as he could within the forty minutes without drawing attention. Every single time he did, however, TJ immediately looked away.  
  
"Something's going on there," Cyrus said as he and Buffy walked out of class, his brows furrowed. "And now I have to deal with whatever it is tonight after library work."  
  
"Waiting for that shoe to drop," Buffy groaned. Just as they turned the corner to go downstairs, TJ brushed past them, knocking into Buffy as he jogged down the stairs. "Well alright then," she huffed.  
  
"That was weird," Cyrus noted, turning to the side to look at Buffy as he walked. "Did you put glass in his cereal this morning?"  
  
"No, rat poison. The glass went in his coffee," Buffy deadpanned, rolling her eyes.  
  
"I swear, he was not like that before. He used to be nice!" Cyrus exclaimed, leading Buffy towards their dormitory and up the stairs. "Hey, wanna come see my room?"  
  
"Will TJ be there?"  
  
"If he is, Lord knows he'll just turn on his heel and leave," Cyrus shrugged, rounding a corner to climb the next flight of stairs.  
  
"Fair enough," Buffy shrugged, reaching the third floor with a sigh. "Please tell me this is your floor."  
  
"One more, sorry," Cyrus said, ignoring Buffy's pout and starting up the last flight of stairs.  
  
"Alright, any further and we'll have to start tunneling through the roof," Buffy huffed.  
  
"Well, that was the plan, but now that you say it something tells me the administration would be a little annoyed," Cyrus joked, walking down the hall.  
  
"Yes, just a touch."  
  
"I guess we'll have to settle for my room," he shrugged, opening his door. TJ was sitting on his bed, reading a book. "Hey, TJ," Cyrus said.  
  
"Hey, Cy-" TJ looked up as Buffy followed him inside. "I've gotta go," he said quickly, standing up. "I'll- uh - leave you two alone."  
  
"Oh- okay," Cyrus said, turning to the side so TJ could get past him. TJ couldn't have left fast enough, and Cyrus was pretty sure he heard him running down the hall after the door shut.  
  
"Behold, in theaters everywhere-" Buffy said, gesturing to the door. "He Hates Buffy Driscoll."  
  
"And the alternate title- He Doesn't Know Buffy Driscoll," Cyrus rebutted. "I'm sure he'd like you if he got to know you-you're pretty similar, you know."  
  
"I resent that statement," Buffy responded, sitting on Cyrus's bed, back against the wall.  
  
"Hey! He's nice," Cyrus defended, sitting next to her.  
  
"Not to me," Buffy snorted. "I saw him in the hallway in the Lowry Center earlier- he literally fell trying to get away from me! He is very much disliked by people who aren't his twin sister or his teammates."  
  
"I like him," Cyrus grumbled, hugging a pillow to his chest.  
  
"Oh no," Buffy groaned. "Oh no no no. Cyrus no. You do not like him!"  
  
"What? of course I do! I have to live with him for- Buffy no!" Cyrus stopped mid-sentence, realizing what Buffy meant.  
  
"What? It's obvious! TJ looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky!"  
  
"Buffy, stop it," Cyrus said, more seriously.  
  
"Come on, Cyrus."  
  
"Buffy! I said stop! I don't want to have this conversation with you right now."  
  
"You're allowed to have a crush! You could have better taste, however..."  
  
"God, shut up! I am not talking about this!  
  
"Cyrus, come on! You are clearly in love with him!"  
  
"Alright, I have library duty," Cyrus huffed, standing up. "I'd tell you to lock up when you leave, but you don't have keys, so..."  
  
"Are you kicking me out?" Buffy asked, following Cyrus to the door.  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," Cyrus responded, locking his door. "I've gotta go, see you tomorrow," he said coldly, turning and walking down the hall towards the back doors, which were closest to the library.  
  
Cyrus walked all the way to the library in a huff, his brows furrowed in confusion. He smiled at Mrs. Bell when he walked in.  
  
"Cyrus! You're here! Good, we have lots to do tonight," she said, standing up from her desk. "The cart of books to be shelved is right over there." She gestured to a cart of new books, nearly overflowing.  
  
"Oh, oh my gosh."  
  
"Of course, we don't expect you to get it all done now," Mrs. Bell added quickly.  
  
"Thank goodness," Cyrus sighed.  
  
"Alright, you two can get to work now," Mrs. Bell said, clapping her hands together.  
  
"Wait- two of us? What?" Just as Mrs. Bell opened her mouth to respond, the library's phone rang. She picked it up, and settled for pointing over Cyrus's shoulder, to where TJ had come to the cart for an armload of books.  
  
"Just my luck," Cyrus muttered, walking up next to TJ for a stack of books to shelve.  
  
"Cyrus? What are you doing here?" TJ asked upon noting Cyrus in his peripheral vision.  
  
"Working," Cyrus said, holding up the books in his arms as evidence. "That damned universe, huh?"  
  
"Yeah," TJ chuckled, following Cyrus towards the shelves of historical fiction. "I thought you were hanging out with your, uh, girlfriend?"  
  
"What?" Cyrus asked, glancing over his shoulder at TJ.  
  
"Your girlfriend? The one you were like just hanging out with?"  
  
"Buffy?" Cyrus laughed as he began to alphabetize the books in his hands, putting them away as he did.  
  
"Assuming that's her name, yes. That's the one."  
  
"No, no. Buffy's just a friend. She, Andi and I have been best friends since we were little kids," Cyrus explained.  
  
"And you all got into Lincoln?"  
  
"Well, you and your twin sister both did," Cyrus pointed out.  
  
"Fair enough, I guess," TJ laughed, moving a book to the side to put another on the shelf. "So, you three have been best friends since you were little?"  
  
"Yeah," Cyrus chuckled, shifting the books in his arms. "Since we met in kindergarten."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Good?" Cyrus asked.  
  
"Yeah, good. You deserve that."  
  
"Deserve what?" Cyrus laughed gently, looking at TJ out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"That whole thing," TJ said, gesturing vaguely. "The best friends thing. The always being there for each other thing, the never fighting thing."  
  
"We don't never fight," Cyrus said sadly, thinking back to Buffy- and then subsequently Andi, who was probably by now incredibly angry with him.  
  
"You okay?" TJ asked softly.  
  
"Y-yeah, I'm alright," Cyrus stammered, wiping his eyes, glad to find no tears pooling there. "Just nervous about PE on Wednesday. We're playing dodgeball and I am very much the underdog in this fight."  
  
"Hey, the underdog can win the fight!" TJ defended. "Have you learned nothing in American Studies?" he teased, leading Cyrus back to the book cart.  
  
"It's the first day!"  
  
"Of your entire education?" TJ rebutted, following Cyrus to the romance section.  
  
"...Point taken. I know the underdog can win, but I am not just the underdog. I am the human version of a rock."  
  
"So you...Change states under pressure?"  
  
"Yes, lots of metamorphism in my life," Cyrus joked, scowling at a book he was putting away. "Sidenote- this section of the library should be burned."  
  
"Now we know what the fine people of Alexandria were thinking!" TJ exclaimed sarcastically.  
  
"Hush, you."  
  
Cyrus and TJ worked around each other until 5:30, talking mindlessly as they shelved the new books.  
  
"Cyrus, TJ! Time's up, you two. You gotta go to your dorm or I am breaking school rules," Mrs. Bell called from her desk. TJ and Cyrus both sighed, plopping the last of the books they were holding on the cart before making their way out of the library.  
  
"Goodnight Mrs. Bell!" Cyrus called over his shoulder as he left.  
  
"See you Friday!" TJ added, holding the door open for Cyrus.  
  
Cyrus and TJ walked side by side back to their dorm, their hands brushing every so often. Cyrus glanced up at TJ, who looked like he was somewhere else entirely; he was clearly very much lost in thought. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, then clamped it shut again- if TJ wanted to talk, he would.  
  
"Hey, you okay?" Damn it. Apparently, his mouth hadn't gotten the memo.  
  
"Oh, yeah," TJ dismissed him vaguely, opening Stanford's back door. "...Just had a bad day."  
  
"Wanna talk?" Cyrus asked, following him inside.  
  
"I...Don't know yet," TJ shrugged. "I just had some problems with my friends."  
  
"That makes two of us," Cyrus sighed.  
  
"You, Crackle and Pop fought?" TJ asked incredulously.  
  
"Did you just equate me and my best friends to the mascots of a breakfast cereal? And make me Snap?"  
  
"Yes I did," TJ nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"I guess. Buffy and I just... Had an argument. And I kicked her out. And now Andi is undoubtedly mad at me for it."  
  
"Buffy's the tall, weirdly intimidating one, right?"  
  
"That's her," Cyrus chuckled, walking down the hallway.  
  
"So...If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"  
  
"Oh- oh, nothing!" Cyrus waved him off, opening their door. "Something stupid."  
  
"Fair enough. My friends and I got into a fight today, too."  
  
"Ah. What happened with you guys?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing. Something stupid, you know the drill," TJ said, casually taking off his white button down to replace it with a pajama shirt.  
  
"Ah, I- I know it well," Cyrus stammered, looking anywhere and everywhere that was not occupied by his roommate's stupid muscles.  
  
"Guess we're in the same boat here then," TJ said, pulling on a t-shirt and taking a pair of sweatpants out of his drawer. "Be right back," he said absentmindedly, disappearing into the bathroom to change.  
  
"...I guess we are."


	4. Chapter 4

Cyrus was exhausted. Madame Aguillard had kept them 15 minutes after class ended to discuss in alarming detail all of the accents in the French language. She spent thirteen minutes talking about their various effects on a word and, later on, their origins and applications.  
  
As he dropped into his seat in third period science, panting slightly, he suddenly understood the practicality of the preposterous amount of time between his classes. He pulled his science textbook from his bag just as Mr. Stilen stood up from his desk at the back of the room. He strolled across the classroom towards the front, greeting his students brightly.  
  
"How was everybody's first day?" he asked, and was answered with a chorus of groans as the students recalled the level of work they'd been assigned the day before. "Oh, don't be so glum. Wait until at least 11th grade to lose hope. Or better yet- wait until you're a sophomore in college," he advised jokingly.  
  
The class shared a forced bout of laughter, most students grimacing at the prospect of spending the next five years working as hard as they had the night before. Cyrus merely sighed, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as Mr. Stile introduced the lesson.  
  
Cyrus sat through the whole of the lesson, only for history to repeat itself- the class extended to 10:56, leaving Cyrus with four minutes to sprint across campus to his room for his English Lit book before rushing to his class.  
  
Cyrus nearly fell up the stairs trying to get to his room, quickly grabbing his book and rushing back downstairs and across campus. He basically sprinted into Mrs. Elliot's room just in time, falling into his seat as the lesson began.  
  
By some force of nature- miracle, wishful thinking, or sheer willpower, no one could be sure- class ended at exactly 11:40, and all 31 students in the class rushed out the door for lunch.  
  
Cyrus followed the crowd without thinking, and before he knew it he was absentmindedly swiping his meal card and stepping into the cafeteria. Damn. He'd deliberately skipped breakfast that morning to avoid his friends, and now he was going to have to face them.  
  
He briefly considered turning around and leaving, but he'd already swiped his card, and leaving would be humiliating. Though, so was standing in the middle of the cafeteria, hands empty and feeling the gazes of Andi and Buffy burning into his skull. He quickly found a plate, dumping the first thing he saw (a ham sandwich on rye, sealed in plastic wrap) onto it before turning back towards the tables. He briefly caught eyes with Andi, whose eyes narrowed before flitting away, before his gaze settled on an empty table in the other corner of the room.  
  
His head down, he hurried to the empty table, setting his sandwich down and pulling To Kill a Mockingbird from his bookbag. He rested his chin in his hand and opened the front cover. Just as he flipped the page, someone appeared in front of him.  
  
"Ah! God, announce yourself every once in a while," Cyrus said, gesturing to TJ, standing in front of him.  
  
"Sorry, Underdog," TJ apologized. Cyrus scoffed at the nickname, shaking his head.  
  
"Is that nickname going to stick?"  
  
"I think it just might," TJ nodded. "Mind if I sit? My friends have disowned me." he gestured vaguely across the cafeteria, to where an entire table of jocks was staring at TJ, anger in their eyes.  
  
"Yeah, of course," Cyrus said, scooping his things off the table, save for the ham sandwich, still lying forgotten at the end of the table.  
  
"So you're the one who took the last ham sandwich," TJ said, taking the seat across from Cyrus.  
  
"Oh, I- I guess I did," Cyrus said with a shrug. "Have an affinity for ham on rye?"  
  
"I guess I do," TJ repeated teasingly. "What do I have to do to get that sandwich from you?"  
  
"Oh, you can hav... is that a chocolate chocolate chip muffin?" TJ grinned, sliding Cyrus his muffin and taking the sandwich triumphantly.  
  
"I seem to have found your weakness," TJ said excitedly, unwrapping the sandwich and taking a joyous bite from the corner. His eyes sparkled with smug triumph as he swallowed, before biting back into the sandwich.  
  
"You have no idea," Cyrus mumbled, taking a bite from his muffin. "So what happened with your friends- if you don't mind me asking?" TJ froze, staring down at his plate and slowly swallowing the bite he'd been chewing before making eye contact with Cyrus once again.  
  
"Nothing- stupid friend stuff," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "What about you, Curly and Moe?"  
  
"Oh, so we're the Three Stooges now?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"What do you mean 'what about you'?" Cyrus asked, stealing a carrot from TJ's tray.  
  
"What happened with you three?"  
  
"I told you, Buffy and I fought, and Andi's mad at me now. I kind of overreacted yesterday."  
  
"Overreacted to what?"  
  
"Oh, nothing much- stupid friend stuff," Cyrus said vaguely, looking over TJ's shoulder to where Buffy and Andii were staring at him, talking in hushed voices.  
  
"I know it well," TJ nodded, albeit with a raised eyebrow. "What are you looking at? Ah." He turned around to look at Buffy and Andi, then nodded in understanding. "Ostracized?"  
  
"Pretty much, yeah. Hence the sitting at this table. I skipped breakfast this morning to avoid them."  
  
"I'm sorry, Underdog. That sucks."  
  
"Well, you're in the same boat," Cyrus shrugged.  
  
"I'm first oarsman," TJ confirmed.  
  
"Does that make me... Second oarsman?"  
  
"Is that how boats work?"  
  
"You think I'd know that?"  
  
"I've known you for three days!" TJ defended, sliding his salad across the table. "Here, you need to eat."  
  
"Thanks," Cyrus said with a grin, stealing TJ's fork and stabbing at the lettuce. "But I feel like I am not the kind of person who exudes boating energy."  
  
"Did you just use the phrase 'exudes boating energy'?"  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did."  
  
"Is this a common choice of words for you?"  
  
"Not really," Cyrus admitted.  
  
"Alright, if this conversation is anything to go by, we need to play 20 questions."  
  
"...The guessing game?"  
  
"Not that 20 questions," TJ chuckled.  
  
"There's more than one version of 20 questions?"  
  
"Apparently so. Anyway, the rules."  
  
"Rules?"  
  
"Rules," TJ confirmed. "One. We each ask 10 questions about each other- any 10."  
  
"So it's really 10 questions, not 20?"  
  
"Don't question it. Two. We're allowed to pass on...two questions. Three- no lying, whatsoever. Four. No questions that are too personal-anything an adult would say to avoid at a dinner party, you avoid here."  
  
"Interesting measurement of how appropriate a question is," Cyrus noted.  
  
"It paints the picture, though." Cyrus nodded begrudgingly, taking a bite of salad.  
  
"Continue," he said, waving his fork at TJ.  
  
"Alright. The most important rule of them all; tell no one anything we say here. It doesn't matter if it's my favorite color or my deepest secret- we say nothing."  
  
"What happens at lunch stays at lunch," Cyrus said, nodding in understanding. "You start."  
  
"Okay... Any siblings?"  
  
"One half-sister, Emily. She's eight. What do your parents do?"  
  
"My mom's a kindergarten teacher, dad's a business guy- Amber and I don't really know what he does." TJ shrugged. "Any idea what you want to be when you grow up?"  
  
"Not a clue, but I'll probably end up following in my parents' footsteps." Cyrus took a deep breath, looking up at TJ. "Have a crush on anyone?" he asked, trying his best to even his voice.  
  
"...Pass." Cyrus nodded, sighing in defeat. "How about you?"  
  
"I...I don't know," Cyrus stammered.  
  
"Okay..." TJ said incredulously, seeming to take that as valid answer nonetheless.  
  
"Um, what's your favorite book?"  
  
"...The Great Gatsby?" TJ replied. "What about you?"  
  
"The Grapes of Wrath. What does TJ stand for?" TJ stared at him for a long moment, taking a bite of his sandwich before opening his mouth to speak  
  
"...Pass."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yep. Are you religious?" TJ asked.  
  
"That is a blatant violation of the dinner party rule, but yes. I'm Jewish. Are you?"  
  
"No, I'm not," TJ shrugged. "My parents are though."  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
"Alright, question 6. What really happened between you and Buffy?"  
  
"Pass. What really happened between you and your friends?"  
  
"...I can't pass, can I?" Cyrus shook his head apologetically. "Can I lie?"  
  
"Do you really want to make that kind of an impression on me?" TJ sighed, shaking his head.  
  
"One of them...accidentally outed me. And the others didn't take it so well," he admitted.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, that's terrible."  
  
"What's done is done. Listen, I'm sorry to cut our game short, but I have to get to class." With that, he was gone, rushing out of the cafeteria without a second look at Cyrus.  
  
"God, he really has a habit of doing that."

* * *

Cyrus and TJ were both sitting cross-legged on their respective beds, each surrounded by a mild flood of books. A sharp knock on the door caused both of their heads to spring up before TJ parted the sea of studying to stand up.  
  
The second he opened the door, someone rushed inside, a flurry of limbs and apology. Cyrus jumped slightly, displacing the homework in his lap just enough for three books to tumble to the ground.  
  
"TJ, I've been trying to talk to you all day! I am so sorry, man. I didn't mean to-"  
  
"Marty, it's fine!" TJ exclaimed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know you didn't mean to out me, please just sit down."  
  
"I'm really really sorry, TJ," Marty mumbled, sitting in TJ's desk chair. As he did so, TJ's twin sister rushed into the room, only to step forward and slap the boy-Marty, TJ had said.  
  
"Oh- Oh my God," Cyrus mumbled, watching TJ pull Amber away from Marty.  
  
"Amber! Sit down!" TJ ordered, pointing to Cyrus's chair. Amber reluctantly did so, holding her hands up in a surrender.  
  
"He outed you, Teej," she grumbled frostily as she sat down, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
"By accident!" TJ protested.  
  
"Well, when someone accidentally knocks over a candle, they still burned the house down!"  
  
"So not the same thing," Marty cut in, holding his jaw gingerly.  
  
"Shut up!" Amber and TJ exclaimed in unison.  
  
Just as Cyrus stood up to leave and let them sort this out, Buffy and Andi marched into the room, effectively pushing Cyrus back inside.  
  
"Cyrus, can we talk?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Good God, I do not want to deal with this right now," Cyrus huffed, sitting back on his bed. "Why are you here, Andi?"  
  
"...Moral support?"  
  
"Alright," Cyrus said, addressing everyone in the room. "Andi, Amber- get out of our room."  
  
"And do what?" Amber asked.  
  
"I don't care! Go introduce yourselves, play 20 questions, do homework, find some conveniently placed cups to press to the door-It doesn't matter! Just leave!" Cyrus exclaimed.  
  
"Okay, okay," Amber said, holding her the door open for Andi as they left. "Do you think we should go?" she asked Andi.  
  
"I want to see how this ends!"  
  
"Me too, honestly," Amber agreed, sitting down against the wall next to the door. Andi grinned, sitting next to her. After a moment's silence, Andi turned to Amber, extending a hand.  
  
"I don't think we've met."  
  
"I don't think we have," Amber agreed, smiling slightly as she took Andi's hand. "Amber Kippen."  
  
"Andi Mack."  
  
"You're very pretty, Andi Mack," Amber flirted boldly.  
  
"As are you, Amber Kippen."

* * *

Cyrus and TJ pushed Marty and Buffy out of their room at the same time, letting the door swing shut behind them and flopping onto their beds in exhaustion.  
  
"Having friends is exhausting," TJ grumbled.  
  
"I'm with you there."

* * *

Amber and Andi stood up when Buffy and Marty stepped out of the room. All four exchanged simple introductions, before naturally separating as they walked downstairs; Amber and Andi walking alongside one another, Buffy and Marty mirroring them a few yards behind.  
  
"We have 8th/9th PE together, don't we?" Marty asked Buffy, turning to her as they jogged downstairs.  
  
"Yeah, seventh period B days. You're really fast," Buffy noted.  
  
"Oh, thanks," Marty grinned at the praise, nodding happily.  
  
"I'm faster, though, of course," Buffy said.  
  
"Why, I'm offended," Marty joked, turning onto the second floor after Buffy. "You and me both know I'm way faster!"  
  
"I guess we'll just have to test it out sometime," Buffy flirted, following Andi into their room and letting the door swing shut behind them, leaving Marty and Amber staring at it in defeat.  
  
"I guess we will."


	5. Chapter 5

Cyrus woke to his alarm- and the world's worst headache- the next morning, groaning as he sat up in bed.  
  
"Good God, what happened last night?" he asked himself, though he knew damn well he could remember the fight he'd had to resolve the night before- not to mention the one he had to endure between TJ, Amber, and Marty, holding a hand to his temple.  
  
"Well, you drank a quart of vodka, of course," TJ joked drily from where he was sitting in his bed, stretching as he woke up. Cyrus abruptly looked up at him with a steely glare. "I'm just kidding, I swear!  
  
"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?" Cyrus asked, standing up and stepping into the bathroom. He pulled the bottle of ibuprofen from their shelf, tipping the bottle into his hand before capping it again and walking back into their room.  
  
"No, no, it's all good," TJ assured him, watching Cyrus pick his water bottle up off his desk to take the ibuprofen. "You good there, Underdog?"  
  
"Only if you disregard the invisible ice pick driving its way into my skull, yeah, I'm just fine," Cyrus remarked, rubbing his eyes and getting his uniform from his drawers. "Do you need the bathroom?"  
  
"Have at it," TJ said, meeting Cyrus's eyes for a lingering second. Just for that moment, the pounding in Cyrus's head ceased long enough for him to hear himself think-a remarkably bittersweet moment, given the fact that all he could hear was his brain chiding him for developing a childish crush on his roommate.  
  
And then suddenly the moment was over; the ending marked by Cyrus backing into the wall next to the bathroom door as opposed to successfully maneuvering inside. He shrieked with incredible dignity, pressing his palm to his now excruciatingly painful temple.  
  
"...How's your head?" TJ asked quietly after a moment of silence.  
  
"Well, the pain has increased tenfold," Cyrus grumbled.  
  
"Ice pick got a friend?"  
  
"The ice pick got an army."

* * *

Cyrus and TJ walked side by side to breakfast, swiping their meal cards and walking into the cafeteria. TJ soured visibly upon glancing around and realizing he and Cyrus would probably not be sitting together today.

"Hey, why don't you sit with us?" Cyrus asked slowly, gesturing to his table, where Andi and Buffy were sitting.  
  
"I'd like that," TJ said with a smile, following Cyrus towards his table. "Did that headache ever go away?"  
  
"Yeah, it was just all the yelling last night- so glad that's over," Cyrus said with a sigh.  
  
"Well, the ice pick army couldn't have helped," TJ joked as they approached the table.  
  
"What ice pick army?" Andi asked, glancing up from her homework with a start at TJ's voice.  
  
"Headache this morning," Cyrus said, waving her off, setting his books on the table. "Mind if TJ sits with us? His old friends, um..."  
  
"Disowned me," TJ filled in with a vague gesture of the hands. Andi shrugged, nodding and  
  
"Why?" Buffy asked absentmindedly.  
  
"Oh, um-"  
  
"Let's go get food!" Cyrus interrupted, pulling an incredibly grateful TJ towards the other side of the cafeteria.  
  
"Thanks for that," TJ said with a smile, putting a scoop of berries and a donut on his tray before following Cyrus back to the table.  
  
"Hey, any time."

* * *

Cyrus and TJ walked back to their dorm together after eighth period; they both held their shoulders as if the weight of the world had been placed upon them at the prospect of finishing the prodigious level of geometry homework that had just been assigned to them.

Cyrus unlocked the door for them, sitting on his bed and pulling the tall stack of math books, reference sheets, notes, and actual homework pages from his bookbag with a heaving sigh.  
  
"You ready for this?" TJ asked, mimicking Cyrus's actions on his own bed.  
  
"As I'll ever be." Cyrus and TJ caught each other's eyes, taking a deep breath before simultaneously opening their notebooks.  
  
"Three..." TJ said cautiously, poising his pencil just above his paper.  
  
"Two..." Cyrus replied, chuckling, doing the same.  
  
"One!" they exclaimed together, laughing as they started writing.

* * *

"Is it possible for a compass to be sent by Satan himself?" TJ asked, glancing up from his work and erasing an answer with furious fervency. Cyrus chuckled, standing and sitting down next to TJ, who was engrossed in a mildly graphic battle with his compass.

"TJ! You're going to kill it!" Cyrus exclaimed, pulling the offending tool from TJ's hands.  
  
"That was the point!" TJ exclaimed, lunging for the compass, at which point Cyrus leaped backward to keep it safe, only to tip backward, nearly falling off the bed. TJ moved forward quickly, catching Cyrus and pulling him back onto the bed. "Hey, you good?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm alright," Cyrus said slowly, meeting TJ's eyes. "Um, you were holding the compass wrong," he stammered, handing TJ his compass back with a gently shaking hand. "You have to hold it by the top part, not the legs."  
  
Cyrus took TJ's hand, placing the compass on the page and guiding TJ's hand to the right place. He helped TJ through the process of constructing an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle. When Cyrus moved to get up, however, TJ's hand moved without him expressly telling it to do as such.  
  
"Wait! ...Um, if I couldn't find my way through a triangle, that pentagon is going to kick my ass," he said with an uncomfortable chuckle. Cyrus raised an eyebrow, but complied nonetheless, scooping his books off his bed and plopping them next to TJ.  
  
"Alright, move over," Cyrus said, shoving TJ towards the wall and sitting next to him, cross-legged.

* * *

Nearly 3/4 of the way through their work, Cyrus came to the startlingly real conclusion that his hand and TJ's had inched closer to one another, and were now resting with nearly a millimeter between them. Taking a deep breath, he shoved his pinky to the right slightly, touching it to TJ's. He heard TJ's breath stutter, before the other, ever the bolder of the two, curled his around Cyrus's.

Eventually, both boys fell asleep like that; pinkies linked, minds racing, and oblivious to the outside world.


	6. Chapter 6

When Cyrus woke, the whole world felt perfectly right. The universe felt as if it had settled into place, as if the final puzzle piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was Cyrus's life had fallen into its place. Over the course of the night, their fingers had come undone, but they'd gotten closer- TJ's arms were wrapped around Cyrus's waist.  
  
When Cyrus noticed this, his breath stuttered slightly, but he disregarded it, reaching for his phone on the nightstand. An e-mail from Headmaster Arlington awaited him- the same e-mail that he was sure awaited every other student on campus.   
  
The e-mail rambled something about the lack of cooling systems in the academic halls- which Cyrus didn't read, as his eyes caught only the subject line: 8/26 - Classes Canceled.  
  
A wave of relief flooded over him as he pondered how much work he could get done with the day off. He was so busy deciding which book report he should write first that he didn't realize TJ stirring until his arms were disappearing from around his waist.   
  
"Oh, hey," Cyrus said quietly, setting his phone down and turning back over to face TJ.  
  
"Hi," TJ responded. The bed was small, and their noses were nearly touching as Cyrus set his head back on TJ's pillow. "Sleep okay?"  
  
"Yeah...Classes are canceled today," Cyrus stammered slightly as he spoke.  
  
"N-nice."  
  
"Yeah," Cyrus agreed, sitting up in TJ's bed. TJ followed his actions, crossing his legs as Cyrus stood up to grab his bag and laptop. He sat back down next to TJ, laying out all the homework he intended to get done that day- it was an ambitious feat, but he was determined.  
  
"That is... A lot of homework," TJ said.  
  
"I've got time."  
  
"...Right." TJ watched as Cyrus determinedly opened his book, typing from the sticky notes on the pages. He silently followed suit, starting an essay on Shakespeare's profound influence on the English language.  
  
"Is this a weird thing to do?" Cyrus asked. TJ swore his heart stopped for a second- he did not want to discuss their sleeping arrangement right now, or ever.  
  
"Wh-what?"  
  
"You know, spend our day off in bed doing homework?" TJ sighed in relief, shaking his head with a chuckle. "It feels abnormal."  
  
"Wow, I was so wrong on that one," TJ muttered to himself.  
  
"What do you mean?" Cyrus asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"I just thought you'd say something else," TJ said quickly, waving his question away as though it were a pesky fly, buzzing just a touch too close to his nose.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Um," TJ sputtered, trying to find a lie to pass off as the truth. He was all too disappointed to find out that he, in fact, couldn't lie to Cyrus. "I thought you were going to say something about the...the way we fell asleep last night."  
  
"Oh. No, I- I wasn't. Were you?" Cyrus asked, turning to meet TJ's eyes.  
  
"Not if you weren't," TJ responded quietly, refusing to break eye contact with Cyrus.  
  
"Well that's good, because I wasn't," Cyrus stuttered.  
  
"So you said."  
  
"So you don't have to," Cyrus continued.  
  
"I don't," TJ agreed, nodding and leaning forward.  
  
"So we don't- what are you doing?" TJ smiled silently, leaning forward to kiss Cyrus, his heart racing as though it were a bird - clearly strong of bone but weak of wisdom, given the situation - attempting to make its way from the harsh confines of his ribcage. However, he wasn't quite successful in kissing the other boy, as the second he got close enough for their noses to touch, Cyrus's ringtone caused them to jump apart.  
  
"Who is it?" TJ groaned.  
  
"Andi," Cyrus responded, putting his phone to his ear.  
  
"Tell her I hate her."  
  
"Got it," Cyrus nodded, before focusing on the phone call.  
  
"Cyrus!" Andi exclaimed.  
  
"Hi, TJ hates you," Cyrus greeted.  
  
"Wow, he's met me once-guy moves fast," Andi remarked, chuckling. "I need your help-and ironically also TJ's; how much does he hate me?"  
  
"Well..." Cyrus glanced over his shoulder at TJ, who looked like he was struggling to decide whether he was embarrassed, angry, sad, disappointed, or simply confused. "I'm gonna call that a six out of ten. No, five, or maybe a four. No...Okay. He's at like a 5.237 out of 10."  
  
"Cyrus, you know I love you, but I really just need like a few words of summary here."  
  
"He's not mad directly at you, he's mad at your timing," Cyrus summarized quickly, grinning at TJ's shrug of approval. "What do you need?"  
  
"...Help?"  
  
"Andi, specifics would be lovely."  
  
"I need help with Amber," Andi admitted.  
  
"Amber...Kippen?" Cyrus clarified.  
  
"Wait what?" TJ asked, looking up from where he'd resigned to going back to his work. Cyrus nodded, putting her on speaker and listening as Andi explained her case.  
  
"I want to ask her on a date, but I don't know how!"   
  
"And you felt the need to call Cyrus to find the answer?" TJ exclaimed.  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Alright, we're on our way," Cyrus sighed, making eye contact with TJ and gesturing towards his door. "221," he said, noting TJ's look of confusion. TJ nodded, pulling on his shoes and holding the door open for Cyrus.  
  
They walked the entire way to Andi and Buffy's room encased in a heavy silence.As Cyrus considered the situation, weighted with such an oppressive quality about it, he was reminded of a poem he'd read in passing.  
  
"There's a certain slant of light, winter afternoons," he recited to himself without a second thought. "That oppresses, like the heft of cathedral tunes."  
  
"Emily Dickinson," TJ noted. "Good choice."  
  
"Choice of what?" Cyrus asked, laughing slightly.  
  
"I don't know! Good choice of...poems to recite in this incredibly awkward moment?"  
  
"You feel that too?"   
  
"Cyrus, I think all of Stanford feels that."  
  
"You know, I don't doubt that," Cyrus nodded, turning onto Andi and Buffy's floor.   
  
"So..."  
  
"TJ, we almost-"  
  
"Please don't make me discuss this right now. We're here to help Andi, remember?" TJ interrupted, knocking on Andi's door as emphasis. "We can talk about this later?"  
  
Cyrus simply nodded, resolving to smile at Andi when she opened the door, hugging her happily.  
  
"Get in here!" Andi exclaimed, pulling Cyrus and TJ inside. Buffy, glancing up from her work at the people rushing into the room, chuckled and picked up her books.  
  
"I'll be in the library."

* * *

TJ and Cyrus spent upward of three hours in Andi's room, before finally convincing her to just- find Amber. They laughed together as they left, their hands brushing together as they walked down the stairs.

Cyrus, in a moment of all too rare bold confidence, took TJ's hand, letting his fingers intertwine with the other's. TJ squeezed his hand gently, looking down at Cyrus with a glimmer of confusion in his eyes. Cyrus glanced up at him as they stepped off the flight of stairs they'd been on- finding themselves in the stairwell between floors three and four.  
  
"So, we almost kissed."  
  
"Oh, we're having this conversation now?" TJ asked.  
  
"I don't see why not."  
  
"We-we're in a stairwell!"  
  
"We're alone in a stairwell!" Cyrus rebutted. "And we need to talk!"  
  
"And talking cannot be done in our own room?"  
  
"Quite frankly, not really!"  
  
"Why not?" TJ asked.  
  
"Alright, though I cannot answer that question, I want to talk!"  
  
"I don't!" TJ exclaimed.  
  
"What would you rather do?! Sit in uncomfortable silence?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Then what?"  
  
TJ stared at Cyrus for a moment, before nearly stomping forward to kiss Cyrus, wrapping his arms around Cyrus. cyrus jumped slightly, before allowing himself to close his eyes and letting himself melt into TJ's kiss.  
  
What felt like the most perfect of eternities later, TJ and Cyrus pulled apart, each taking a deep breath. Cyrus and TJ caught eyes, smiling with a chuckle.  
  
"...Did we just make out in a stairwell?" Cyrus asked after a moment. TJ grinned, nodding as he rested a hand on the back of Cyrus's neck.  
  
"Yes we did. How would you feel about doing it again?"  
  
"I think I can make that happen."


	7. Final Chapter

"I made a mistake," Cyrus said as soon as and And Buffy's door opened, slipping into their room.   
  
He'd just said a rushed goodbye to TJ after they kissed again, rushing past him and down the stairs to Buffy and Andi's room.  
  
"Cyrus, you have been gone for three minutes! What did you do?!" Andi exclaimed, closing the door behind Cyrus.  
  
"TJ and I kissed!"  
  
"You WHAT?!"  
  
"We kissed! Twice!"  
  
"Cyrus!" Andi flopped down on her bed next to him, the mattress springs squeaking under their combined weight. "Did he kiss you or did you kiss him? How was that a mistake? Where is he? Where did you kiss?! I have so many questions!"  
  
"He kissed me- does that matter?" Cyrus asked, his brows furrowing worriedly.  
  
"I don't know! My friends don't usually get kissed! How did it happen?"  
  
"We were yelling at each other in the stairwell and-"  
  
"You kissed a boy in the _stairwell?!_ "  
  
"Yes? Is that a problem?" Cyrus asked nervously, clearly overthinking every detail of their kisses.  
  
"I don't think so? Keep going!"  
  
"Well, we were yelling, and then he kissed me, and then we kissed again, and then I ran away," he summarized quickly, ticking the events off on his fingers.  
  
"Why did you run away?"  
  
"He kissed me!" Cyrus exclaimed.  
  
"And...?"  
  
" _And_ he kissed me! We have to live together!" Cyrus sounded like Andi should definitely just know this.  
  
"A feat that will be infinitely more difficult if you don't talk to him, Cyrus."  
  
"I don't want to talk to him! I don't want to see him, or exist around him!"  
  
"Don't you like him?" Andi asked. As Cyrus started to respond, Buffy opened the door, stepping inside.  
  
"Oh, hey Cy-What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
"That's the problem!" Cyrus exclaimed to Andi, waving a hand in Buffy's general direction as greeting. "I like him too much."  
  
"Hey, fill in the blanks here," Buffy said, sitting down next to them.  
  
"TJ kissed Cyrus in the stairwell and he ran away!" Andi exclaimed.  
  
"TJ ran away?!"  
  
"No, Cyrus did!"  
  
"Why would he do that?"  
  
"Have you met him?" Andi asked, gesturing to Cyrus.  
  
"You know what, fair."  
  
"You do realize I'm right here, right?" Cyrus asked.  
  
"Right, continue," Andi responded, turning back to Cyrus. "You were saying that you...like him too much?"  
  
"Exactly! I can't be around him now!"  
  
"Most people would be happy their crush kissed them," Buffy sighed in disbelief. "And yet, here you are."  
  
"Cyrus, you do realize that this means you can be with him, right?" Andi asked. Cyrus shook his head frantically, his eyes widening.  
  
"I can't do that!"  
  
"Why not?!" Andi asked, exasperated.  
  
"Could you just date Amber if she walked up to you and kissed you?" Cyrus rebutted.  
  
"Yes!" Andi exclaimed. "And I'm willing to bet Buffy could say the same about Marty!"  
  
"Marty?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yes? I thought you liked him? Weren't you flirting with each other?" Andi replied.  
  
"God, I hope not!"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"...I'm aroace, Andi," Buffy responded.  
  
"I did not know that. Well, fair enough," Andi shrugged, turning back to Cyrus. "But I could definitely say that about Amber."  
  
"You met her yesterday!" Cyrus protested.  
  
"You met TJ on Sunday!"   
  
"Exactly! I have to live with him for the rest of the school year!"  
  
"Which is why you have to talk to him!" Buffy insisted, throwing her hands in the air.  
  
"I can't do that," Cyrus said, his voice breaking slightly.  
  
"Why not- are you crying?" Andi asked. Cyrus shrugged, wiping his eyes with the heel of his palm.   
  
"Apparently so," he responded, chuckling drily.  
  
"Hey, it's okay," Buffy said gently. "What's going on?"  
  
"I can't go talk to TJ now!" he cried.  
  
"Why not?" Andi asked.  
  
"Because if we talk, I'll kiss him again, and then we'll start dating!"  
  
"And why is that so bad?!" Buffy asked, exasperated.  
  
"Because then we'll break up!"  
  
"Well gee, Spongebob. Turn down the optimism," Buffy said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.  
  
"Cyrus, you can't spend your life running away from relationships just because they'll eventually end," Andi said softly. "You'll never get anywhere!"  
  
"I know," he sighed.  
  
"Cyrus. You have to go talk to him," Andi insisted.  
  
"I'll make you a deal," Cyrus responded, crossing his arms.  
  
"Uh oh," Buffy muttered.  
  
"I will talk to TJ after you ask Amber out," Cyrus proposed, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Bless my lack of romantic attraction," Buffy whispered, watching Andi's eyes widen.  
  
"So?" Cyrus asked, clearly expecting Andi to refuse.  
  
"Fine," Andi agreed, crossing her arms.  
  
"That was not the expected reaction," Cyrus muttered.  
  
"Come on, we're doing this now," Buffy said, waving them out the door.   
  
"Why now?!" Andi and Cyrus asked in unison.  
  
"Because- and you know I love you- you two are ridiculous messes."  
  
"Buffy's done with us," Andi said, looking at Cyrus as they jogged downstairs and outside.  
  
"She really is."

* * *

Andi marched toward where Amber was sitting with a friend in the cafeteria, ignoring the feeling of Cyrus's eyes burning into the back of her head.   
  
"Oh, hey, Andi!" Amber greeted upon seeing her.  
  
"Hi..." Andi responded awkwardly, fidgeting with the hem or her shirt.   
  
"Wanna sit?" Amber's friend asked, smiling.  
  
"Oh, no thanks, um, could I talk to you for a sec, Amber?" Andi stammered.  
  
"Yeah, of course!" Amber said, already standing up. "Iris, guard my fries."  
  
"Will do, Ambs," Iris replied with a giggle, already stealing a fry from her best friend's plate as Andi and Amber walked away.  
  
"So what's up?" Amber asked when they got to a quiet corner of the cafeteria.  
  
"I-" Amber nodded encouragingly, her cool blue eyes glittering warmly. "I was wondering if you'd want to um, get a cup of coffee or go out to dinner sometime?"  
  
"Together? Like on a date?" Amber stuttered.  
  
"...Yeah?" Andi said slowly. "We don't have to if you don't want to or-"  
  
"Andi," Amber cut her off firmly. "I'd love that."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah," Amber chuckled. "How does Saturday sound? We can grab some coffee off campus after dinner."  
  
"It's a date," Andi said with a smile, turning on her heel and grinning at Cyrus and Buffy as she made her way toward them. "God, I've always wanted to say that."  
  
"Hey, how'd it go?" Buffy asked.  
  
"We're going for coffee after dinner on Saturday!" Andi exclaimed excitedly, unaware of the similar conversation taking place at Amber and Iris's table.  
  
"That's amazing!" Cyrus exclaimed. "Oh my God, does this mean I have to talk to TJ?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes it does," Andi said apologetically. She shooed him out of his chair, pushing Cyrus toward the door of the cafeteria, followed close behind by Buffy. "Come on, pip pip."  
  
"I hope you both know I hate you," Cyrus said as he was shoved up the stairs of Stanford. He tripped up the last stair, instinctively grabbing Andi and Buffy for support.  
  
"We love you too, Cy," Buffy responded, holding him up for a second before ushering him up the stairs, grinning when he swatted her hand away.  
  
"You ready for this?" Andi asked, following Cyrus to his room.  
  
"Did you not get the memo?" Cyrus asked irritatedly. "No!"  
  
"Well, we wish you the best," Buffy said, moving to leave. Andi followed, only for both to be pulled back by Cyrus.  
  
"Where are you going?" he hissed.  
  
"Our room?"   
  
"What? No! I can't do this alone!"  
  
"Cyrus, hon, we love you," Andi said, taking his hands. "But we are not going to go in there and watch you talk to TJ and then inevitably make out with him."  
  
"Andi!"   
  
"You know I'm right," Andi shrugged. "Now get in there. We will see you after you talk."  
  
"How do you plan on knowing we talked?" Cyrus asked.  
  
"Cyrus. You are incapable of lying to me," Buffy said seriously.  
  
"Yeah, alright," Cyrus responded. He took a deep breath, pulling his keys from his bag and unlocking the door. With one final glance at Buffy and Andi, he pushed his door open.   
  
TJ was sitting on his bed cross-legged, eyes flitting across the pages of his book. There was a gentle smile on his face as he carefully turned an old, crumpled page, but he jumped nearly out of his skin at the sound of the door swinging shut loudly behind Cyrus.  
  
"Ah! Sorry," Cyrus exclaimed, wincing at the noise.  
  
"It's fine," TJ responded, sitting up straight. "So, um, you kinda...left before we could talk."  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that," Cyrus responded sheepishly, sitting next to TJ.  
  
"It's fine," TJ responded, moving to the side so Cyrus could sit with his legs actually on the bed. "I get it, you needed time to breathe."  
  
"You're not mad?"   
  
"Of course not," TJ said, shaking his head. "I get it, you don't have to like me as more than a friend."  
  
"Wait what? I-I do like you, though," Cyrus said quickly, only belatedly realizing he'd just admitted feelings for TJ.  
  
"Then why'd you run away?" TJ asked slowly.  
  
"I needed to talk to my friends!" Cyrus defended.  
  
"You have really weird timing."  
  
"Hush, it was an important moment! I had to go talk to them!"  
  
"...Why?"  
  
"We're freakishly linked, it's weird," Cyrus said, waving him off.  
  
"Fair enough," TJ said, laughing gently. Cyrus grinned, and TJ found himself falling in love with his eyes. He was sure he could get used to staring into them, to making Cyrus laugh, to being in love with him.   
  
"You okay?" Cyrus asked gently, snapping TJ out of his daydream.  
  
"I'm fine," TJ responded. "You're just...perfect." Cyrus blushed, his eyes dropping to his lap. TJ shook his head in disapproval, hooking a finger under Cyrus's chin and pulling it forward to make eye contact with him. "There you are."  
  
"Here I am," Cyrus chuckled, cocking his head slightly. There was a smile on his face but his brows were furrowed as he stared at TJ, clearly trying to figure out whether he was being serious. Before he could open his mouth to ask, TJ was shifting closer to him. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Can I kiss you?" TJ asked softly.  
  
For that moment, and that moment only, time froze. _Yes_ , his heart screamed. _No_ , his brain pleaded. _Yes, no. Yes, no. Yes, no, yes. No_. Well, _yes_. No, it has to be no. _No_. ... _Yes_. _No_.  
  
No was for safety, for guarding his heart as he knew he should. No for turning away and continuing on with his life. For being rational. For being smart. For putting the pain when you hit the ground above the adrenaline when you jump.  
  
Yes was for love, for falling without a second thought. Yes for leaving the rest to the universe. Yes for abandoning caution. Yes for uncalculated recklessness. Yes for taking a risk. For jumping without checking where he'll land. Yes for heart. For adrenaline. For happiness.  
  
Cyrus found that the closer he got to taking the leap, the more he wanted to. The closer he got to the top of the roller coaster, the more he loved the prospect of the fall. The further he walked towards the edge of the diving board, the more he wanted to jump. To close his eyes and fall through the whistling air. To feel the cold water rushing around him as he hit the surface of the pool.  
  
His heart racing, he looked up to meet TJ's crystal clear green eyes, patiently awaiting an answer.   
  
And then he nodded.


	8. Director's Cut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prompt from Tumblr to do a director's cut of TDU!

__**Spoilers!  
**   
[That Damned Universe](https://im-trash-bye.tumblr.com/post/180532636999/i-need-the-links-to-that-newest-fic-u-weote-u) was heavily inspired by a couple of books I once read, and I think it has a lot of meaning that goes under the radar of a lot of people, instead being registered subconsciously (the whole point of my writing, frankly). Here’s a ridiculously in-depth rundown of each chapter, from the writer’s point of view.  
  
**Chapter 1  
**   
The first chapter was meant to introduce the storyline, and show some exposition. Lincoln Academy was named after my elementary school, and is structured in a ridiculously unconventional manner, given the strong academic drive of the academy. We find out quickly that Cyrus, TJ, Andi, and Buffy all room in Stanford Dormitory along with the rest of the freshman class, and Amber is in Halsey. Halsey was named after my favorite building of the college in my hometown, while Stanford was after the university, where Cyrus would end up going to major in psychology if TDU extended that far.  
  
I put Cyrus on the fourth floor and Andi and Buffy on the second for the sole purpose of creating conversational periods between characters as they go between one another’s rooms or to and from classes. This set up the framework for TJ and Cyrus’ first kiss later on.  
  
I intentionally wrote Cyrus to react to his arrival at Lincoln with minimal homesickness for two reasons. The first, of course, is that Cyrus grew up with four incredibly overbearing but well-meaning parents, and he is eager to take a deep breath. The second is that Cyrus, as all characters and people must be, is a psychologically complex character, and his immediate lack of emotional displacement comes from that fact. He’s so overwhelmed upon arriving at Lincoln that he doesn’t have the time to catch his breath, let alone miss his parents.  
  
Finally, the last line. TJ almost immediately tells Cyrus he finds him fascinating upon meeting him, which feels almost rushed, but was planned to feel as such. TJ’s first impression of Cyrus is so sudden and rushed because he immediately likes Cyrus, and isn’t quite sure how to express his emotions, so he naturally does his best to make Cyrus happy.  
  
**Chapter 2  
**   
The first line of the second chapter (Cyrus woke to his alarm, going off at exactly 5:55 am, as it always had - Cyrus was sure it always would.) is a representation of how Cyrus follows a schedule in his life that doesn’t change, and he assumes it never will. However, in chapter 6, he doesn’t wake to his alarm, because he’d fallen asleep with TJ the night before. This was coded to imply that TJ teaches Cyrus to let himself be human and have a little more fun.  
  
Cyrus wakes to TJ gone, because I wanted to show TJ’s elusive nature early on in the story, then introduce his character a little bit later. His leaving confuses and intrigues Cyrus, effectively prompting him to get to know TJ better.  
  
He spends an exorbitant amount of type getting ready on the first day of school, which was to further cement the notion that he’s a touch over-specific in all areas of his life, especially when he’s in a new, unfamiliar, or stressful environment (Lincoln Academy just so happens to be all three).  
  
Their odd choice of cereal (both Rice Krispies and Cap'n Crunch) is a little reference to Gilmore Girls, in which Paris and Rory both make interesting and unique cereal and milk mixtures on a couple of occasions.  
  
Cyrus’s offhanded comment that TJ hates the universe is not only the root of the title, but a slight character development from TJ, giving him a human characteristic. This at the very least proves that Cyrus and TJ had a conversation of substance the night before, and had learned more than trivial things about one another.  
  
Andi and Buffy lightheartedly making fun of him for his taste in unobtainable athletes was meant to allude to his crush on Jonah back home, and to show that he’d grown more comfortable with his sexuality since coming out to them.  
  
Lincoln’s class periods are 40 minutes, with a 20-minute break between. This seems absurd at first, but later we’ll find that classes constantly run lat, justifying the minor absurdity.  
  
Cyrus and TJ’s conversation between 5th and 6th period is meant to show their friendship and the way Cyrus affects TJ in a positive way. They joke back and forth naturally, complimenting one another and letting the conversation carry without trying too hard.  
  
**Chapter 3  
**   
This chapter follows my own change and interpretation of actual things from Andi Mack, turning some of my favorite pieces of the show in relation to Tyrus into my own plotlines. The first is, of course, TJ’s acrimony towards Buffy. In the show, this is expressed as jealousy of her basketball skills, whereas I chose to change it into jealousy of her close relationship with Cyrus. TJ immediately leaving when Cyrus and Buffy walk into the dorm room is meant to further stabilize the notion that TJ thinks she and Cyrus are together, though at this point it hasn’t been confirmed.  
  
Buffy and Cyrus getting into a fight over his feelings for TJ shows that Cyrus isn’t ready to admit how he feels. This also allows for TJ and Cyrus to become closer when Cyrus can’t turn to Andi and Buffy for constant friendship.  
  
Cyrus’s conversation with TJ in the library is interesting, as the second TJ finds out that Cyrus and Buffy aren’t dating, the conversation lightens. They’re then able to have a conversation that moves along without the weight of their mutual awkwardness resting on it. Their academic banter throughout the conversation was meant to show that TJ and Cyrus were both highly academically minded, despite showing that trait in very different ways.  
  
Cyrus being unable to stop himself from asking if TJ is okay shows two things about him and his relationship with TJ. The first is that Cyrus is the type of person who cannot refrain from helping others. He shows unconditional empathy for others, and those he loves are never free from his well-meaning comfort. The second thing this shows is that he has grown so comfortable with TJ in under 24 hours that he’s willing to risk stepping possibly outside of his boundaries as an acquaintance/friend to ensure that TJ is going to be alright.

**Chapter 4**

All of Cyrus’s teachers (Mr. Marlow, Madame Aguillard, Mr. Stile, Mrs. Elliot, Ms. Anderson, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Bailey) are slight variations of teachers I’ve had this year or last, most of which teach the same subjects I had them for.  
  
This chapter has one last interpretation of a classic detail from Andi Mack - the muffin. Their exchange of sandwich for chocolate-chocolate chip muffin proves that they’re friends, and care about one another enough to insist they have their favorite foods.   
  
I chose for them to play a game of 20 questions as a way to reveal exposition without stating their backgrounds, interests, and hobbies point-blank. This also allowed me to build their relationship through verbal learning.  
  
Marty being the friend who accidentally outed TJ let me introduce him to the story, and having him, Amber, Buffy and Andi rush into TJ and Cyrus’s room let me introduce them to one another.   
  
Amber and Andi’s quickness to flirt with one another showed that TJ and Amber inadvertently learned about love in the same way - they both grew up learning from their parents that those you love can leave quickly. Thus, they both picked up a habit of quickly establishing a close relationship with those they’re attracted to before they leave.  
  
**Chapter 5**  
  
Cyrus wakes with a terrible headache the next day (and jokes with TJ about being hungover) because of the yelling and conflict the night before. I put this aspect in for two main reasons. One is, of course, showing that Cyrus can’t stand conflict, and is consistently trying to resolve it. The second reason I put this bit into the story is so that I could allow TJ to minorly comfort Cyrus in a platonic (but romantically intentioned) manner.  
  
Cyrus quickly saving TJ from having to out himself to Buffy and Andi was a move that I wrote in to show Cyrus’s growing ability to cut into conversations and protect those he loves, as taught to him by TJ.  
  
The small scene of TJ and Cyrus studying together exhibits the lighthearted, carefree side of their relationship that I thought was very important to introduce at some point in the story.  
  
The romantic tension between Cyrus and TJ as the former helps TJ with his compass foreshadows their awkward encounter following their first kiss later on. When it ultimately built to them falling asleep holding pinkies, that was meant to show that they were each aware of their feelings for the other, but reluctant to show them.  
  
**Chapter 6  
**   
When Cyrus and TJ wake up the next morning, they’re curled around one another, and it causes intense romantic tension between the pair as they go about starting the day. This ends when they go back and forth in a short exchange of ‘I wasn’t’ and ‘well neither was I’.   
  
TJ tries to kiss Cyrus, but they’re interrupted by a phone call. This signifies the awkward, fumbling nature of the relationship, especially as they go to help Andi. Their acknowledgment of the awkwardness between them is a huge step in their relationship, which ultimately leads to their first kiss.  
  
Their argument in the stairwell being the lead up to their kiss was a choice I made because in the heat of an argument, emotions are heightened. This was important for the scene to work, as if they hadn’t been arguing, neither would have the courage to kiss the other.  
  
**Final Chapter  
**   
I had Cyrus start the seventh chapter regretting his kiss with TJ to drive the plot. This forced TJ and him to have an actual conversation about what exactly their relationship was at the end of the chapter.  
  
Honestly, there were only two reasons I made Buffy aroace. First, I’m ace and I wanted representation, so I took the opportunity when it arose. Second, I wanted to tease you guys with Muffy (anyone paying really close attention to AO3 will have noticed that I tagged TDU as a Marty/Buffy fic, then took away the tag for the last chapter).  
  
Cyrus wagering his asking TJ out for Andi doing the same with Amber was a way for me to close the Ambi storyline in a satisfactory way without dedicating an entire chapter exclusively to it.  
  
The mini-monologue of Cyrus deciding whether or not to kiss TJ was one I’d been writing in my head since beginning to write TDU, and completed the fic in a way that was so characteristic of my writing that I couldn’t help but throw it in just to make the story feel completely finished.

**Author's Note:**

> It's here!!! I'll try to update every Monday but life is wild so who knows


End file.
